To our surprise, on arriving back in Australia, we were invited to serve as missionaries on the island of Funafuti, in Tuvalu, formerly called the Ellice Islands. We arrived in our new assignment in January 1979. There were only three other baptized publishers in all of Tuvalu.

Learning Tuvaluan was not easy. The only book available in the language was the “New Testament.” There were no dictionaries or language courses, so we decided to try to learn from 10 to 20 new words each day. But we soon realized that we did not understand the correct meaning of most of the words we were learning. Instead of telling people that divination was wrong, we were in fact telling them to avoid using measuring scales and walking sticks! We did, however, need to learn the language in order to conduct the numerous Bible studies that we had started, so we kept on trying. Years later, one of those with whom we studied in those early days told us: “We are so happy that you can speak our language now. At first, we didn’t have a clue what you were trying to say!”

On the other hand, we had what some might call the ideal situation for learning a new language. As there were no homes available to rent, we ended up living with a Witness family in the main village. This meant total immersion in the language and in village life. After we had not spoken English for a number of years, Tuvaluan became our main language.

Before long, many started to show an interest in the truth. But what could we use to study with them? We had no publications in their language. How could they do personal study? When they started coming to the meetings, what songs could they sing, what material could they use, and how could they even prepare for the meetings? How could they ever progress to baptism? These humble people needed spiritual food in their own language! (1 Cor. 14:9) We wondered, ‘Would publications ever be produced in Tuvaluan, a language spoken by fewer than 15,000 people?’ Jehovah answered those questions, proving to us two things: (1) He wants his Word proclaimed “among the islands far away,” and (2) he wants those whom the world views as “humble and lowly” to take refuge in his name.​—Jer. 31:10; Zeph. 3:12.

TRANSLATING SPIRITUAL FOOD

In 1980 the branch office assigned us to work as translators​—a work for which we felt totally unqualified. (1 Cor. 1:28, 29) At first, we were able to buy an old mimeograph machine from the government, and we used it to print material for our meetings. We even translated the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life into Tuvaluan and printed it on this machine. I still remember the strong smell of ink and the effort required in the intense tropical heat to print all this literature by hand. At the time, we did not have electricity!

It was a challenge to translate into Tuvaluan, as we had very few reference works to help us. But sometimes help came from unexpected sources. One morning I called by mistake at the home of someone who was opposed to the truth. The householder, an older man who had been a teacher, was quick to remind me that we should not call at his home. Then, he said: “I just want to mention one thing. In your translation, you use the passive form too much. It is not used that often in Tuvaluan.” I checked with others, and he was correct. So we made the necessary adjustments. However, I was amazed that Jehovah had given us this help by means of an opposer who obviously read our literature!

The first piece of literature printed in Tuvaluan for distribution to the public was a Memorial invitation. That was followed by Kingdom News No. 30, released simultaneously with the English. What a joy it was to give something to the people in their own language! Gradually, some brochures and even some books became available in Tuvaluan. In 1983 the Australia branch started to print a quarterly 24-page Watchtower, which gave us an average of seven paragraphs to study each week. What was the reaction in the community? Since people in Tuvalu love to read, our literature became very popular. The arrival of each new publication was announced in a news bulletin on the government radio station, sometimes even making headline news!a

The translation work started with pen and paper. Later, manuscripts were typed and retyped numerous times before being sent off to the printing branch in Australia. At one time, the branch had two different sisters enter every manuscript into the computer, even though they did not understand Tuvaluan. This system of entering the text twice and then comparing the differences on the computer resulted in remarkably few mistakes. Composed pages were returned to us via air mail for checking and then sent back to the branch for printing.

How things have changed! Now translation teams enter the text directly into computers. In most cases, the corrected text is composed locally, producing files that can be sent to the printing branches via the Internet. No longer is there a frantic rush to the post office to send the manuscripts off by mail.

FURTHER ASSIGNMENTS

As the years went by, Jenny and I received various assignments throughout the Pacific. From Tuvalu we were assigned to the Samoa branch in 1985.